Laser Eye Surgery — How Much Time Will I Need Off Work?

“Most patients are back to their normal routine within a day or two, we tend to ask patients to take one day off, the day after their surgery, to allow for a more relaxed environment to come for their one day post-op, and also to adjust to their new vision, adjust to their new drop routine, get used to placing the lubricant drops etc. before going back into their normal workplace.”

—Mr Glenn Carp, Laser Eye Surgeon and Ophthalmic Surgeon

As Mr Carp states, most of our patients take around two days off—the day of the surgery and the day after. This is generally the case if you have LASIK or ReLEx SMILE surgery. If you have LASEK / PRK treatment, the recovery time can be a little longer: you should plan to return to work after around seven days.

On returning to work, there are a several things we advise patients to bear in mind, such as to keep your eyes well lubricated with artificial tears if you are using a computer or in an environment with air conditioning, as both can dry out your eyes.

ReLEx SMILE has been shown to considerably reduce post-operative dry eye and discomfort (and in some cases even eliminate them completely). And this is all from a procedure which can be performed in significantly less time than standard LASIK surgery.

London Vision Clinic was the first Laser Eye Surgery clinic in the UK to offer ReLEx SMILE.